Convertible toy vehicle



2 Sheets-Sheet Filed Nov. 26, 1956 vmi2 Jan. 27, 1959 HOFLER` 2,870,566

CONVERTIBLE TOY VEHICLE Filed Nov. 26, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 5;; ffii; 'iii-23 i @e l tipe CUNVERTIBLE T01( VEHICLE Leonhard Heiler, Furth, Bavaria, Germany Application November 26, 1956, Serial No. 624,326

Claims priority, application Germany .lilly 14, 1956 9 Claims. (Cl. Q6-17) The present invention relates to a convertible toy, and more particularly to a to,I truck which may be converted into different kinds of special-purpose vehicles.

Prior to this invention there have been toy vehicles, including trucks of various types and design; however, such toys have generally been modeled as closely as possible to resemble full-size vehicles and have thus always been designed as special-purpose vehicles, such as delivery trucks, dump trucks, wreckers, crane trucks, iire trucks, and the like. 4

Although toy vehicles of this type may partly satisfy the urge of modern children for technical knowledge and have a certain educational value in demanding a certain dexterity and ingenuity for operating the same, they neither satisfy the build-it-yourself urge of any boy nor his desire to convert one toy into another. Also, while smaller children often wish to imitate their older brothers and demand toys resembling the full-size operative vehicles, they are often not as yet capable of mastering the intricacies of the mechanical features thereof. Consequently, they can do no more than merely roll such vehicles around, their urge to play is inadequately satisfied so that they soon tire of such occupation, while their urge to design and to build new toys themselves is entirely neglected.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new toy which is designed to overcome the above-mentioned deficiencies and which will more fully satisfy the chil- 'drens urge to play, will keep them better and longer occupied, and will satisfy their urge to design and build new toys, and which thus also will have a greater educational value than the ready-made special-purpose toy vehicles now on the market.

More specifically, it is an object of the invention to provide a new toy which any young boy can convert from one type of vehicle to another and which will teach him the basic difference in the purpose, design, and operation of different types of vehicles, and will occupy him many times as long as any single special-purpose toy or even a plurality thereof.

These objects of the invention maybe attained by the provision of a convertible toy truck which consists of a chassis with a drivers cab thereon and a one-piece conversion member which may be combined with the main chassis in dilferent positions so as to convert the truck into various shapes adapted for one purpose or another. It is thus possible by means of such a single additional member to convert the truck either into a pickup or dump truck, a crane truck, wrecker or towing truck, lumber truck, or wellwagon, or a flatbed truck.

Further objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will appear from the following detailed descriL tion thereof which is to be read with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of the conversion member;

Fig'. 2 shows a bottom view of the entire vehicle;

Fig. 3 shows a side view of the vehicle with the conversion member being combined with the chassis so as toform a pickup or dump truck;

Fig. Il shows a side view of the vehicle with the conversion member being applied to the chassis so as to form a crane truck; n

Fig. 5 shows a side view of the vehicle with the conversion member being applied to the chassis so as to form a wrecker or towing truck;

Fig. 6 shows a side view of the vehicle with the conversion member being applied to the main chassis so as to form a trailerlike rear chassis so that both together form a lumber truck; while y Fig. 7 shows a side view of the vehicle converted into a wellwagon, flatbed, or cable truck.

Referring to the drawings, the conversion member 1 is designed in the form of a supporting frame, the front portion 4 of which is substantially flat and the sides thereof tapering toward the rounded front end 2, while its rear portion extends upwardly from the front portion 4 and forms a pedestal 3 with an inclined rear surface 20.

If the vehicle is to be converted into a pickup or dump truck, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the flat portion 4 of the convertible member 1 is placed on the platform 5 of chassis 6 so that the half-bearings 7 formed by notches in the side walls of pedestal 3 coincide with the halfbearings 8 on chassis 6 to take up the axle 9 of the rear wheels 10. A vertical trunnion pin 11 secured to platfor-m 5 of chassis 6 will then engage in a cutout 12 of member 1, while the rounded end 2 of the latter engages in a recess 13 in the rear wall 14 of the drivers cab 15 so that conversion member 1 will thus be held in a lixed position on chassis 6. The box-type body 16 which is to be used if the vehicle is to be made into a pickup or dump truck has at its rear end a shaft 17 which is inserted into half-bearings 13 likewise formed by notches in the side walls of pedestal 3 near the outer end thereof so as to permit body 16 to be pivotable, as shown in Fig.- 3. A lateral movement of body 16 will be prevented by stakes 36 and 37, the lower crossbars of which are fitted into recesses 38 and 39 in the sidewalls of member 1.

if the new toy vehicle is to be converted into a crane truck, as shown in Fig. 4, a conversion member 1 is turned around so that its llat portion extends toward the rear, while a bore 19 in the inclined wall 20 of pedestal 3 is fitted over the vertical trunnion 11 on platform 5 of chassis 6, so that the inclined wall 20 of pedestal 3 rests flatly upon platform 5. Bore 19 is preferably r'nade of a diameter so as to allow conversion member 1 to swivel around trunnion 11. Member 1 is furthermore provided with a notch and a slot 23, of which notch 22 is adapted to receive a crank 21, while slot 23 is adapted to hold crank 21 in a locked position. For this purpose, the shaft 24 of crank 21 has a flattened projection 25 which is adapted to fit into slot 23 if crank 24 is to be locked. Shaft 24 is also provided with two annular flanges 26 and 27 between which a cord or ribbon 28 or the like which is attached to shaft 24 is guided when crank 21 is turned. Cord 2S then passes through a bore 34 at the tapered end of member 1, and carries at its other end a hook 29. By mounting member 1 on trunnion 11, it may be swiveled laterally so that hook 29 may also pick up loads lying at the sides of the vehicle.

The conversion of the truck into a wrecker or towing truck is shown in Fig. 5. Since in such a vehicle the loa-d arm 1 need not Vbe pivotable in the lateral direction, the half-bearings 18 thereon are placed up-on the axle 30 of Wheels 31 which is made possible by the provision of,

cutouts 32 in platform 5 of chassis 6, into which the side wall portions 33 of pedestal 3 may be inserted.

The conversion member 1 may also be applied in the manner as shown in Fig. 6 to change the vehicle into a lumber truck. Member lis then turned over and bore 34 of the rounded end 2 'of member 1 is fitted on the trunnion 11 on platform 5 .so that the carrying frame ofthe truck is'extended to approximately twice its normal length and the continuous surface of member Ii will form the loading platform. Also, the axle of one pair of wheels, for example, axle 3ft carrying the rear wheels 31 is inserted into the half-bearings 7 on pedestal 3 so that the truck will have the appearance as shown in Fig. 6. For bracing the load 35, the crossbars of stakes 36 and 37 are inserted into notches 33 and 39 in member 1. The entire rear end of the truck on wheels 31 is thus able to swing about trunnion 11 relative to the front end so that an improved steering action is obtained.

Finally, the new toy vehicle may also be converted into a fiatbed truck or wellwagon, as shown in Fig. 7. Member 1 is then placed so that its bore 34 ts over a trunnion 4@ which is mounted on a cross member 41 of chassis 6. The continuous flat edges of member then face in the downward direction so that pedestal projects upwardly. If a load, for example, a cable drum 42, is to be secured on the truck, stakes 36 and 37 are inserted so that their free upper ends face toward each other and thus form a low lateral enclosure on member l.

Although the invention has been illustrated and described with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that it is in no way limited to the details of such embodiments, but is capable of numerous modifications within the scope of the appended claims.

The invention having thus been fully disclosed, what is claimed as new is:

1. A convertible wheeled toy vehicle comprising a chassis with a drivers cab thereon and having a substantially flat top surf-ace behind said cab, at least one rear axle means on said chassis, one of said means being removable therefrom, an elongated conversion member adapted to be selectively assembled on said chassis in different positions to convert said vehicle to different uses, including to a semi-trailer, said member being adapted to be assembled on said top surface to lie flat thereon and extending substantially over its entire length, said member tapering to its front end and having side walls spaced at the rear of said member about the width of said top chassis surface, said drivers cab having in its rear wall an aperture to receive said front end of said member when the latter is assembled on said top surface, a set Of aligned apertures in said side walls adapted to alternatively receive said removable rear axle means when said conversion member is connected to said chassis in a position to serve as semi-trailer-like extension of said chassis.

2. A convertible wheeled toy vehicle comprising a chassis with a drivers cab thereon and having a substantially flat upper surface behind said cab, at least one rear axle means on said chasses, one of said means being removable therefrom, an elongated, substantially llat conversion member adapted to be attached to said chassis in different positions, including a position in which said member serves as semi-trailer-like extension of said chassis and a position in which said conversion member lies at on said upper chassis surface, said member having a projecting portion extending angularly to the longitudinal axis of said member close to one end thereof, the Width of said projecting portion being substantially the same as that of said upper surface of said chassis, said projecting portion having side walls, a set of aligned apertures in said side walls adapted to alternatively receive said removable rear axle means when said conversion member is connected to said chassis in said position to serve as semi-trailer-like extension of said chassis, said conversion member having a set of aligned apertures at the flat rear of said conversion member, said chassis having two substantially vertical trunnions at different levels,

l wherein the front end of said conversion member has an opening to receive selectively either of said trunnions when said conversion member is connected to said chassis as a trailer-like extension thereof, whereby the at sury CAI face of said conversion member faces up when said opening is placed on the higher of said trunnions, in which position said rear axle means is assembled in the aperture set in said side walls, while said projecting portion faces up when said opening is placed on the lower of said trunnions, in which position said rear axle means is assembled in the aperture set of the flat rear of said conversion member.

3. A toy vehicle according to claim l, said member being of skeleton structure.

4. A toy vehicle according to claim 1, wherein a box is removably seated on said conversion member, said box having at its rear end laterally projecting pin means, said side Walls having at the rear of said conversion member aligned apertures open at the top of said side walls to receive said pin means so that said box can be turned like the box of a dump truck.

5. A toy vehicle according to claim 2, said conversion member being of skeleton structure having side beams with aligned transverse slots facing up when said conversion member is lying on said upper chassis surface, removable U-shaped stakes inserted in said aligned slots to support loads placed on said conversion member.

6. A convertible wheeled toy vehicle comprising a chassis with a drivers cab thereon and having a substantially fiat upper surface behind said cab, an elongated, substantially flat conversion member adapted to be assembled on said chassis in different positions, said member having a projecting portion extending angularly to the longitudinal axis of said member close to one end thereof, said projecting portion having side walls interconnected by a substantially flat transverse member angularly disposed with respect to said longitudinal axis, said conversion member being adapted to lie with its flat portion on said flat chassis surface and alternately be assembled on said surface by seating said flat transverse member thereon, whereby said conversion member stands on said flat chassis surface at an acute angle.

7. A toy vehicle according to claim 6, a trunnion substantially vertical on said chassis, said transverse member having an opening adapted to receive and swivel about said trunnion when said conversion member stands on said chassis surface to simulate the standard of a crane, an opening in the other end of said conversion member adapted to alternatively receive said trunnion when said conversion member is assembled as a semitrailer, a rear axle means removably mounted on said chassis, means on said conversion member to receive said rear axle means when assembled as semi-trailer.

8. A toy vehicle according to claim 7, wherein said chassis has in its rear on a lower levelv a substantially horizontal supporting member for said at portion, said flat chassis surface having slots extending from the rear at both sides to receive parts of said side walls when said conversion member is assembled on said lower level as `a fixed crane.

9. A toy vehicle according to claim 7, wherein said conversion member is equipped with crank and pulley means including a rope, said rope being threadable through said opening in the other end of said conversion member.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNTED STATES iATENTS 1,224,935 Kingsbury May 8, 1917 1,361,584 Howard Dec. 7, 1920 1,653,291 Katow Dec. 20, 1927 1,973,220 Mohr Sept. 11, 1934 2,545,155 Logan Mar. 13, 1951 2,630,334 Ewers Mar. 3, 1953 FOREGN PATENTS 751,321 France lune 19, 1933 931,857 France Nov. 10, 1947 

